IN JUNE, we posted our concerns about two, one year contracts totaling over three million dollars for international teachers unanimously approved at the June board meeting. Not only did it stick in our craw that we are paying high fees to hire a teachers supply ‘agency’ to get teachers to replace those fleeing DeKalb, we continue to have deep concerns about the companies given the contracts.

Details
Due to teacher shortages in the critical needs areas of Math, Science and Special Education, the services of Intalage, Inc. and Global Teaching Agency will provide the District with additional staffing resources for filling vacant critical needs areas. All teachers selected by the District are fully certified and will be interviewed and recommended by the Principal. To reiterate, this is only an additional staffing resource to provide high quality teachers to students.

Financial Impact
The amount of the contracts will not exceed $3,005,000 for up to 45 teachers and will come from allotted teacher positions in the General Fund.

Term
Unless sooner terminated as provided herein, the term of this Agreement shall be for an initial period of one year, commencing on August 1, 2014 (the “Initial Term”). The services to be rendered by Teachers shall commence on the first day of school for new teachers per DCSD’s school year calendar (the “Commencement Date”), and shall terminate on DCSD’s last teacher workday per DCSD’s school year calendar (the “Termination Date”). Prior to the commencement of a Teacher’s active teaching duties, DCSD shall arrange for the Teacher to have a minimum of one workday of classroom observation or non-instructional activities for which Teacher will not be charged a personal or sick day

…

This Agreement may be renewed for up to two additional one-year terms
(“Additional Term(s)”) by an affirmative vote from a majority of the DeKalb County Board of Education (“Board”).
Notice of such renewal by the Board shall be given at least forty-five (45) days prior to the expiration of the Initial Term and of each Additional Term. To the extent it is a multiyear agreement for the lease or purchase of services, this Agreement is governed by the provisions of O.C.G.A. § 20-2-506.b. Vendor agrees that, for any Additional Term, DCSD retains the right to review and reject the Services of any individual Teacher.

…

At all times while this Agreement is in effect, Vendor will ensure that each Teacher’s work visa remains valid.
– Vendor will assist each Teacher in obtaining, as soon as possible, a teaching certificate from the State of Georgia. In the event that any Teacher’s certificate is delayed or not obtained for any reason(such as, but not limited to changes in governmental policies, etc.), Vendor will refund to DCSD any fees paid on behalf of the Services of such Teachers on a pro rata basis. In any event in which the Teacher’s certificate is delayed or not obtained, for any reason, the Teacher will be released from duty.

+++

Then Kirk Lunde posted two blog opinion posts at the Patch and we reposted them here:

The June 2, 2014 BOE meeting and International Teachers
Posted on June 6, 2014
My [2015 DeKalb Schools] Budget Concerns
Posted on June 22, 2014
Of note: Another example of a “data-disconnect” on the T Sheet is the appropriation for “International Teachers.” Last October the BOE approved an additional $1,755,000 for international teachers. As I pointed out in an earlier post, during the current fiscal year, three divisions and fifteen accounts have been used to pay for international teachers. Where was the $600,000 requested in the amended budget going? Why $600,000 when over $3.5 million was already approved?

Read Lunde’s posts. They are extremely relevant.

Moving on, we looked up Intalage, Inc at the GA SOS website, and almost gave up until we figured out the company is listed as In-Talage, Inc. (Scroll to the bottom to read the business documents.) The business address is listed as 3718 Sexton Woods Drive, in Chamblee (just down the street from the high school at the corner of Sexton Woods and Chamblee-Dunwoody.) So we took a field trip. And we took pictures. Below is the ‘corporate office’ of the company we just gave a multiyear multi-million dollar contract to supply teachers from overseas to teach our children.

(These were taken on a weekday. We have driven by several times and the place has been vacant every time.)

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About dekalbschoolwatch

Hosting a dialogue among parents, educators and community members focused on improving our schools and providing a quality, equitable education for each of our nearly 100,000 students. ~ "ipsa scientia potestas est" ~ "Knowledge itself is power"

No – this is the problem with ‘reading’ comments – sometimes they don’t come across as intended. We were just saying that this deserted little house oddly is the ‘headquarters’ for a company that we PAY over $1.5 million to go get teachers from overseas. We would have expected something a little more like an office – and a little more inhabited. (But, then there IS the point that we have to go overseas to get so many teachers due to our reputation for how we treat our teachers – which makes us last on the list for U.S. teachers looking for a job in GA.)

This should be against the law….fake business front! There are plenty of qualified teachers here in Atlanta that would love a $55,000 starting salary. Why look overseas? You can bet your bottom dollar there are friends or family behind these two companies. The BOE just rubber stamps anything in front of them.

Duh you obviously don’t read the news. The is a shortage of STEM teachers in all of Metro Atlanta, Georgia and the nation. Most graduates with a STEM (that’s Science Tech Engineering Math for you numbnuts) start at $60k and quickly move up. It’s very difficult to get them interested in teaching when we have so many helicopter parents out there second guessing the teachers. No one is running away from DeKalb. There just aren’t enough of those types of teachers. Read the news not Fox

Yes, they are running away from DeKalb! Many will pay $750 to get out of their present contract if they can find work elsewhere. I taught in DeKalb as well as two daughters who remain presently. Teachers, staff, etc. are fed up with this zoo of people in charge! When you are nearing twenty-years with a system you can’t just quit! They need the retirement!

Yes, I read the newspapers daily. And not just the AJC! I am 76 years old and taught in the system from ’72 to 2000! I am well informed concerning the downfall of a once well-recognized school system! As you can see, I began teaching when it was ranked at the top. I have seen it fail year by year! Maybe you’re right, overseas teachers not familiar with our situation may be the only ones willing to join this comedy of errors! Why in the world would you imply I watch Fox News? What has this to do with my opinion? I AM aware of STEM teachers…I have a granddaughter finishing up her Masters, concentration in Math and Science and you can bet your a.. she won’t be looking into teaching in DeKalb but in another county close by. If a person has a love of teaching children then money comes second sometimes. Therefore we should not attempt to “get them interested” in teaching!

The ironic thing is my nephew has a BS in International Relations from North Eastern University. He graduated about 4-5 years ago and despite having outstanding internships in College, due to the recession he was not able to find a decent full time career position in this country. So he went to China to teach English. For the last two years he has taught English in China. Now he is engaged to a Chinese girl.

Wonder if that “corporate headquarters” is zoned for that function? Dekalb County CAN afford to hire good teachers – we’re the highest taxed school district in the State of Georgia. The administration chooses either not to do so or is not competent enough to do so. We CAN do much better than we are doing right now – we simply need to choose the right people to do so.

County schools posted average performances based on Georgia’s new “student growth model,” which measures how much students learn in a year compar

… DeKalb’s Wadsworth Magnet School for High Achievers lived up to its name in fourth- and fifth-grade math and in fifth-grade reading, with a 100 percent pass rate on the CRCT. However, when compared to peers across Georgia, students at the school registered modest growth: 35 percent in fourth-grade math, 43 percent in fifth-grade math and 46 percent in fifth-grade reading. The median growth percentage gives parents a new way to assess the performance of their school, says the Georgia Department of Education.

Remember — Wadsworth is a very tiny (barely over 200 students total), magnet school for high achievers. You have to apply, get accepted and maintain a certain grade. If they are only able to register ‘modest’ growth, then what can be expected of over-crowded schools with 600-1000 students, and 30+ students per teacher?

Howdy, you are right! There is money to hire good teachers. I have faith Mr. Jester and hopefully other newly elected Board members will have a backbone and question the actions Thurmond presents! The “crew” we have now are puppets in his hands. Until there is a member to lead there will continue to be same old decisions…Thurmond’s!

@No2Decatur–Just for fun, I tallied the number of jobs for STEM teachers as listed above. Out of 200+ vacancies, only about 35 are in STEM fields. Before you start slinging insults, you ought to check the facts, especially when they have been provided for you! Yes, we liberal arts teachers are running from Dekalb.

Average and struggling students are challenged every day at school. When they earn an A or B it means more than the A earned by a bright or gifted student who sort of listened in class, ignored the homework, but did well on the test anyway. Our average students often become very successful adults. They learn to keep going when things get difficult. They ask for help when they need it. They value collaborative effort because they have learned that they get better results by working with others. We do our brightest students a disservice when we fail to provide appropriately challenging learning experiences. Sooner or later these students will encounter something that requires attention and effort. Will they know what to do or will they give up? What is a reasonable expectation for student growth when evaluating the progress of gifted or talented students? I do think it is unfortunate that we give schools like Kittredge and Wadsworth high ratings based on pass rates for a test that asks students to meet a minimum standard.

As long as Dr. Eugene’s Mean Machine and the Clew Crew remain, how can anyone expect any change???????? DSW, just start recycling the posts from the original DSW and one will find it is Deja Vu all over again! Ramona Tyson has got to go!

I live two blocks from that house, I do not think it is at Chamblee Dunwoody and Sexton Woods, those roads do not intersect. However, Sexton Woods and Harts Mill does and that is exactly where the “Corporate HQ” for Intelage, Inc is located. This is within two blocks of Chamblee Middle and Chamblee Charter High.

I will be contacting Chamblee City Hall and DeKalb County to make sure this property is zoned for business. I hope they have their business licenses taken care of.

Exit Question.. WHERE THE HECK IS THE MEDIA LIKE FOX OR COX! Seems like we need a Richard Belcher or FOX 5 I-Team to take a look into this.

Sounds like it may be a situation where a disconnected middleman uses their inside connections to get the work. This just runs up the cost to the taxpayer by adding a middle man when we could have gone straight to the staffing company. The real question is what is the going rate for a staffing company to bring in Indian teachers and did the tax payers get ripped off? Getting a US work Visa is probably an easy sell to prospective teachers in India. An Indian teacher might even pay on their side to get the job and Visa. A double dip would be highly profitable.

Hey Dekalb Board, why would we hire a shell corporation as a middle man? The vote was unanimous right? Was there an RFP and only one bid??

I checked other web sites too and tried to estimate an expert teacher on the high side.
Based on a $400,000 rupees per year salary, top level high school teachers in India make about $6600 per year. $55,000 per year in the US or $6600 in India. Seems like an easy sale. Does anyone know any of these teachers? Were they charged a fee on their side too?

@formerdekalbteacher glad you were an English “teacher” because your math is horrible. Took a glance at the posting and u distorted the numbers. Also, noted you didn’t deny watching Faux News. This will be my last post as you people have an agenda and you’re too entrenched in your beliefs to look at both sides. @voterkidsmartgeo and @hanna_hurley threw racial epithets at me, i don’t want to stay around to find your true nature. It’s sad that we disagree, but you distort and due to your poor math skills, inaccurately manipulate the facts. Goodbye

Well, No2decatur, you won’t be missed. You have only left 2 comments at this blog and they have both been full of insults. One of the first things you did was call other people ‘numbnuts’ – not a good way to win friends and influence people. We considered removing your comment then for its level of anger and name-calling, but we figured we would be called out as ‘having an agenda’ and banning people. However, it seems you have done this anyway. Further, we have no idea what you are referring to when you say “@voterkidsmartgeo and @hanna_hurley threw racial epithets at me, i don’t want to stay around to find your true nature.” People with those names have not commented here whatsoever. We are not affiliated with them either. So it’s odd that you would not want to stick around here in order to avoid finding out more about these two. Makes no sense, but certainly, you will go out into your community and spread that as some kind of ‘truth’ about this blog. We can’t control that kind of rumor mongering and falsehood – we can only control our own response.

In the future, please note that we will remove comments that name-call and personally offend others, regardless of whether you are new to the blog or not. Be civil. We can disagree, but angry name-calling won’t be tolerated.

To reiterate the list of job openings for teachers with less than a week before pre-planning, we will repost. (Not a lot of ‘STEM’ teachers on this list – mostly regular classroom teachers, and special education, along with a mix of STEM, arts, language and content teachers.) As far as we know, the international teachers have already been placed in other teaching jobs in DeKalb – these are in addition to those:

Great idea to check the business licenses and zoning for the house aka corporate headquarters. I would also look up this shady couples other address, I suspect it is in a neighborhood with by laws which prevent running businesses out of it. Or maybe they are next door neighbors to part of the Friends and Family.

I used to live in the shadow of the Home Depot store support center ( aka corporate headquarters). The guy who moved in a couple of years later, became the HOA, lawn nazi ( an excuse for his peeping hobby). He loved getting the mgmt company to issue fines to everyone that there lawn was 1/4 ” too long or pine straw wasn’t fresh ( we did not have these rules when I bought). He made the mistake of bragging that he and his wife were Home Depot contractors who worked from home. Well, guess what, we the original owners did not like Mr. Fine, and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. Neither, he or his wife had a Cobb County Business License, which is required if you work out of your home. Then these morons left the year old baby in the car in the driveway in July, so they could exercise inside alone. DFAC got called. They got several other calls made on them, they saw it wasn’t pleasant to live under a microscope. I heard they sold there house and moved to Cherokee county. Pity the new neighbors.

It’s all about the contracts – who has the power to hand them out and to whom are they given. John Evans enlightened us as to how his organization views the school district (at least the money it represents)

Evans – There is no need in having some power, influence, or whatever you want to call it, if you don’t use it.

Belcher – Evans told me the reason the board needs to guarantee black participation is that black firms can’t win the work in an open competition.

Black law firms cannot compete? Why is that?

Evans – No. We don’t have it. We’re not big enough. We don’t have the resources. We don’t have the numbers. It’s just pure and simple.

Belcher – But in the same interview today, Evans told me something he did not tell the school board, that black people need to “stop letting people do things for us all the time. It makes you more dependent.”

Evans – Foodstamps and vouchers and this and this and every time you look up it’s a grant or some CID. That’s all they’re doing, is doing the things for us.

Belcher – But isn’t this asking for something you might not win in open competition?

Thank you to everyone who called Mr. Thurmond, Dr. Thompson, Dr. Bradshaw, or sent an email or were part of the 100 plus who came to the Board of Education Meeting on July 7 to stand up for our teachers who are being retaliated against.
By your efforts, our issue was covered on Fox 5 News and in the CrossRoads News’ July 12 edition. Congratulations!We’ve gotten Mr. Thurmond’s attention.
Now it is time to let Mr. Thurmond know we are serious! We mean business. We need 1500 supporters to attend this rally and demand that our 5 teachers, Ms. Lucy Wright, Mr. Chris Little, Ms. Monica Hardesty, Ms. Carla Jordan and Ms. Marsha Murray Bunsei be reinstated.
Had the principal been doing her job our teachers would still be in their classrooms as they had been these past many years. Consider this, our tax dollars bought and paid for the new Fine Arts wing of SWD HS. Our tax dollars pay the salaries of our teachers, principal, staff and even Mr. Thurmond’s $250,000 per year salary. And if that is not enough, it is our children sitting in the classrooms of these buildings we have bought and paid for. So how is it that we don’t have any say in how this system is run? Why are we pleading and begging these officials to do what we think is in the best interest of our children?
Frederick Douglass said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

What did Fannie Lou Hamer say?, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired!”
People, it is time to Power up! It is time to Pride Up! It is time to Stand Up!
Only when we demand justice for our teachers, our students and ourselves will we have justice.
IF YOU FEEL THE SAME WAY; SHOW UP TO THE RALLY AND BRING A FRIEND!

SWD parents are one of the few things that scare the county office. Many of this in the palace live in that area, or have worked in that school, and it’s no secret that the county color scheme is the same as SWD for a reason. If those parents started to demand transparency in the budget and admin, we’d be back on track in no time.

I’ll start with the good news: as of today, the number of teaching vacancies on PATS is down to 190, which indicates that DCS hired 15 teachers on Thursday (the district is closed on Fridays during the summer). Tekisha Ward-Smith isn’t very popular on DSW, but honestly, she and her staff are again working really hard this summer to get a lot of vacancies filled.

Now the bad news: many, many teachers have requested to be released from their contracts. DCS is making those teachers jump through several hoops before releasing them; I’m hearing that the process of being released from DCS can take up to 3 to 4 weeks.

DCS is dragging their feet because they know other districts will not hire a DCS teacher until that teacher has paperwork from DCS indicating that he/she has been released by DCS. However, DCS is actually harming DCS far more than the departing teacher because (1) the vacant DCS job will not be posted to PATS until DCS generates the paperwork showing the teacher was released and (2) word is quickly getting around about how shabby DCS is treating its departing teachers.

Anyway, I am hearing that there are roughly 60 to 100 departing teachers who are still in limbo, waiting for DCS to process the paperwork that will release them. Once those departing teachers are released, those 60 to 100 vacancies will show up on PATS. (Sorry I can’t be more specific, but I am hearing different numbers from different sources.)

And now the REALLY BAD news: PATS currently has openings for three (3) Principals and four (4) Head Custodians. Something is really wrong if those positions were vacant all summer long – Principals and Head Custodians have to work really hard all summer long to ensure their schools are ready. I really fear for those seven schools that have those vacancies; those seven schools are going to have a rough year! (I shudder at the thought that there might a DCS school that needs both a new Principal and a new Head Custodian.)

Below is a list of some of the jobs listed on PATS — as of today, DCS is attempting to hire three (3) Principals; ten (10) Assistant Principals; seventeen (17) custodians, including the four head custodians; seven (7) Academic Data Coaches; twenty-six (26) Paras; and one hundred and ninety (190) Teachers…..and there is only one-week left before all those teachers are supposed to report to work.

Postings #2673-2013 and #2678-2013 are particularly interesting – both are for “Secretary, Federal Programs”. 2673 was posted on 11/21/2013 and has a last change date of 11/22/2013. 2678 was also posted on 11/21/2013, but it has a last change date of 07/24/2013.

Both postings say that interviewees will be contacted by Dr. Morcease Beasley, Ed.D. There has to be an interesting story behind those postings. Why does Dr. Beasley need two Secretaries and why has he not been able to find (or retain) them since last November?

Here’s the full list, three hundred and fifty-three (353) job openings:

@dsw2contributor – You make a very good point about the importance of principals being on the job during the summer. I live close to Brockett Elementary School in Tucker and walk my dog around that school every day. Rarely have I been by Brockett Elementary this summer when her car was not there. Moreover, the cars of other staff are also there. And when I happen to have the occasion to be inside Brockett Elementary (such as when I vote), I observe that things are orderly, clean, and functioning and the people are courteous and very efficient.

I hope that this principal and her staff are recognized and appreciated for their outstanding commitment and hard work.

Wow! another raciest article by I see color Gene Walker. Sorry Gene, wake up a white person can not get a Public Sector job in Fulton, DeKalb, City of Atlanta, Clayton. If they do they are harassed.

My white child had to do community service as a person under 21, who ran a stop sign, to keep her license, in the City of Atlanta. The Diversion program for under 21’s. The black folks who were in charge of this at the Atlanta City Hall bldg. think it is lot of fun to send the Mexican Boy’s the Jose’s and the White girls out in the 90+ degree heat all day to do landscaping and pick up trash. While the blacks male and female are inside filing paperwork. Including bond information with peoples Social security numbers on it. My daughter said this was so blatantly divided on Race, it was not funny. It should have at least been changed up at lunch. She only had 8 hrs. But the Jose’s got 16 hrs. They told her they got all their time outside.

SW DeKalb is Up In Arms
Go to the last board meeting public comments. I’ve transcribed a few people including Byron Merritt (President SW DeKalb High School PTSA) and Cooky Huff (2nd Vice President – SW DeKalb High School PTSA). Half the public comments were about SW DeKalb. They go into the details surrounding this issue.

[00:10:15] Byron Merritt (President SW DeKalb High School PTSA)“This representative group of SW DeKalb High School parents have gathered here this evening to obtain justice for teachers who have been reassigned for speaking out about problems at SW DeKalb High School. To ask Mr Thurmond to reinstate the 5 teachers that have been reassigned away from SW DeKalb by the Area Superintendent by what looks to us as retaliation because they raised the serious concerns about how SW DeKalb High School was being run.”